The first thing which connects these two altars is the redeeming blood. The atoning, redeeming blood was shed as a sin offering at the outer altar to accomplish redemption. After the blood was shed, it was brought into the Holy Place and put upon the horns of the incense altar (Lev. 4:3-7). The horns signify power and authority. Without the application of the blood to the incense altar, there is no basis for the burning of the incense, and without the blood, the incense has no effectiveness. It is the redeeming blood that joins the two altars as one. Redemption could never be effected with only the outer altar. It requires the two altars at the two ends of the house of God—the offering altar, where it may be shed, and the incense altar before the ark of testimony, where it may be applied. The offering altar and the incense altar are united by the blood.
Another element which unites these two altars is the heavenly fire. Every kind of sacrifice upon the altar of offering is consumed not by any fire of earth, but by fire from heaven. In Leviticus 9:24 we read, “And there came a fire out from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat...” At the beginning the fire came down from heaven and consumed all the offering. This fire, we are told, should never be extinguished or allowed to cease. The burning power is from heaven. It is this very fire which burns the incense. Leviticus 16:12, 13 says, “And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil: and he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony...” There is one blood and one fire that join these two altars together. It is the same blood and the same fire that make them one. Whatever is accomplished on the altar in the outer court must be brought in to the altar in the Holy Place. By this we see that these two altars are simply two ends of one thing. This is the reason, I believe, why both are called altars. They are of one name with two ends.
The main significance of the offering altar is redemption, while the main significance of the incense altar is acceptance, or, in other words, fragrance to God through redemption. Without redemption, we could never be accepted by God, we could never be fragrant to God. We are redeemed at one end and accepted at the other. Christ is our redemption at the outer altar, and Christ is our acceptance at the inner altar.
All these matters are exceedingly deep and profound. We do not have much understanding or adequate utterance to define all these things. The best we can do is to see the picture. A picture is better than a thousand words. Thank the Lord, we do have a picture.
At the offering altar we have all been redeemed. Now we need to come to the altar of incense to be so acceptable and fragrant to God. The way we come is through the blood, and what we must do when we come is burn the incense. To burn the incense simply means to pray and to praise God with Christ and all He has accomplished as the content of our prayer and praise. This is the real acceptance and fragrance to God. We all must realize that whenever we come to praise God at the incense altar, we must certainly have contacted the offering altar. In other words, when we come to the matter of acceptance, we must surely have passed through redemption. Now at the incense altar, what we need is not to kneel or prostrate ourselves to worship in a natural or religious way, but to burn the incense. Outward worship means nothing to God—God does not desire or require that. What God desires is the burning of the incense, the praises full of Christ and all He has accomplished. The burning is our part; we must burn the incense.
There is no problem with the matter of redemption, we have all been redeemed—we are exceedingly clear about that. Today’s problem is the matter of acceptance, the matter of the fragrant incense offered continually to God. You are redeemed, and you are satisfied. You can shout, “Hallelujah, I am redeemed!” You have the Hallelujahs, but God is waiting for some Hallelujahs. You are satisfied, but He has not yet been satisfied. He is waiting for the burning of the incense. At the offering altar, of course, there is also a kind of fragrant odor. The burning of the sacrifices affords a sweet savor to God. Undoubtedly God is satisfied with that; yet that is outward; that is something which is only in the outer court. What God requires is inner and deeper, not just in the outer court, but in the Holy Place near to the ark of testimony. God desires this kind of satisfaction, and He can only be fully satisfied by the burning of the incense. We have nothing to offer to God and we can do nothing, but we can burn incense. We can offer in our praises all that Christ is and all that Christ has done. I hope that you may even compose something in your praises about the incense—the fragrant drugs, the stacte, the onycha and the galbanum, the pure frankincense, and the seasoning salt. We do need some living praises, not according to the human and religious concept, but according to the living reality of Christ’s Person and work. Try to do it. We all must try to do it. We all must praise the Lord in a new way.